This invention relates to head scarves that are suitable for use by all fashion conscious women, and are especially useful to women and children with medical hair loss. Scarves according to the invention are fashionable, easily put on and taken off, and they can be conveniently rearranged in a variety of styles. For persons without hair, they are particularly comfortable as they can be provided with linings of soft, absorbent material that avoid the discomfort experienced when wearing conventional bandanas and scarves in hot, humid climates.
Scarves according to the invention have a main body that is made of a fabric usually selected for its appearance, and a lining that is selected for comfort, especially in cases when the wearer does not have hair for medical or other reasons. The main body and the lining are made of fabrics that are flat, planar and flaccid. The scarf has a crown that includes the lining and covers the head, and an optional tail that is adapted to lie behind and hang down from the crown.
One aspect of the invention involves the shape of the crown. The lining and scarf body are connected together in a novel way that enhances the ability of the crown of the scarf to conform to the shape of a wearer's head, and attractively positions the scarf's front margin area that extends across the forehead, to the wearer's ears, and beyond. This advantage is due in part to the structure wherein, in the central longitudinal plane of the scarf, the length of the crown material between the front and rear margin areas of the lining is greater, by a differential amount, than the linear distance between the front and rear margin areas of the lining. The front margin area of the lining has end points that are flush with the front margin area of the crown portion of the main body. Preferably, in planes parallel to and spaced from the central longitudinal plane, the lengths of the lining between its front and rear margin areas are greater, by differential amounts, than the linear distance between the front and rear margin areas of the lining, and the differential amounts decrease progressively from a maximum near the central longitudinal plane to about zero in longitudinal planes most distant from the central longitudinal plane.
The forgoing effect is preferably achieved by attaching the front margin area of the main body to the front margin area of the lining by a convex line of stitching that provides the aforementioned differential amounts. This line of stitching desirably has a length (L) and a convexity of 0.005L to 0.013L.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, there is a tail that is adapted to lie behind and hang down from the crown portion. A drawstring channel is located where the tail joins the crown, and a tightening member is located in the drawstring channel for drawing together the upper regions of the tail and for drawing the crown into a shape conforming to a wearer's head. The tail has a central section that is at least four inches long, and two side sections that lie on opposite sides of the central section and are longer than the central section.
The disclosed scarf has a drawstring channel located where the tail portion joins the crown portion. When the main body and lining are laid out on a planar surface, the drawstring channel has a form that is generally a semicircle having a radius of at least 12 inches. A tightening member, preferably an endless loop made of elastic material, is located in the drawstring channel for drawing together the upper regions of the tail portion and for drawing the crown portion into a shape conforming to a wearer's head.
The invention also includes a method for making a scarf. This method includes the steps of providing a scarf body piece; providing a scarf lining, stitching together the front margin portions of the body and lining pieces to form an assembly of the stitched-together pieces. The stitching is done along lines on both pieces that are convex and are registered with each other, and the stitching is done while the margin portions overlie each other and are extending in opposite directions from their respective pieces. The stitching produces exposed stitch lines on both sides of the sewn-together assembly. One of the pieces is folded to cover one of the exposed stitch lines, to provide a convex edge of the stitched-together pieces, to place the pieces in face-to-face relation, and to give the assembly a three dimensional forehead-receiving shape in the vicinity of the front margin areas. The rear margin area of the scarf lining piece is attached to the scarf body piece.